Book picks similar to
Intuition by R. Buckminster Fuller
philosophy
intuition
psychology
non-fiction
Dr. Quantum's Little Book Of Big Ideas: Where Science Meets Spirit
Fred Alan Wolf - 2005
Quantum) is, as Deepak Chopra states, "one of the most important pioneers in the field of consciousness." Featured in the wordofmouth indie hit, What the Bleep Do We Know?!, Dr. Wolf is a physicist who knows how to put complex sciencebased ideas into terms that even sciencephobes can understand. With clarity and a sense of humor, Dr. Quantum presents Big Ideas in the form of both short quotes and longer excerpts and covers topics ranging from the construction of our everyday reality to our relationship to one another. Dr. Quantum's Little Book of Big Ideas is a perfect gift for anyone interested in the realm where science meets spirit.
Becoming Wise: An Inquiry into the Mystery and Art of Living
Krista Tippett - 2016
The heart of her work on her national public radio program and podcast, On Being, has been to shine a light on people whose insights kindle in us a sense of wonder and courage. Scientists in a variety of fields; theologians from an array of faiths; poets, activists, and many others have all opened themselves up to Tippett's compassionate yet searching conversation. In Becoming Wise, Tippett distills the insights she has gleaned from this luminous conversation in its many dimensions into a coherent narrative journey, over time and from mind to mind. The book is a master class in living, curated by Tippett and accompanied by a delightfully ecumenical dream team of teaching faculty. The open questions and challenges of our time are intimate and civilizational all at once, Tippett says – definitions of when life begins and when death happens, of the meaning of community and family and identity, of our relationships to technology and through technology. The wisdom we seek emerges through the raw materials of the everyday. And the enduring question of what it means to be human has now become inextricable from the question of who we are to each other. This book offers a grounded and fiercely hopeful vision of humanity for this century – of personal growth but also renewed public life and human spiritual evolution. It insists on the possibility of a common life for this century marked by resilience and redemption, with beauty as a core moral value and civility and love as muscular practice. Krista Tippett's great gift, in her work and in Becoming Wise, is to avoid reductive simplifications but still find the golden threads that weave people and ideas together into a shimmering braid. One powerful common denominator of the lessons imparted to Tippett is the gift of presence, of the exhilaration of engagement with life for its own sake, not as a means to an end. But presence does not mean passivity or acceptance of the status quo. Indeed Tippett and her teachers are people whose work meets, and often drives, powerful forces of change alive in the world today. In the end, perhaps the greatest blessing conveyed by the lessons of spiritual genius Tippett harvests in Becoming Wise is the strength to meet the world where it really is, and then to make it better.
The Mindful Geek: Mindfulness Meditation for Secular Skeptics
Michael Taft - 2015
In the book, Michael Taft gives you step-by-step instructions in the powerful and reliable techniques of mindfulness meditation, and outlines the psychological and neuroscientific research underpinning these practices. An excellent book for beginners who are atheists, agnostics, and skeptics of all stripes who want help with anxiety, depression, and to enjoy life more.
The Universe Doesn't Give a Flying Fuck About You
Johnny B. Truant - 2012
If you have a "next big thing" in mind you want to do because you know it will be awesome (starting the business, making the big move, launching the nonprofit, writing the book) but are afraid of doing what it would take to make that thing happen, then you should read this.The universe is very big. You are very small. In fact, you're so small and so insignificant in the big picture that you don't even register to the eye of the cosmos. The universe was here before you were born and will be here long after you're gone, and your life is but a blip on its vast, vast radar. If your life is to matter, it's not going to matter to the universe. It's up to you make your life matter in the only way you can: by doing things that make a difference to you, to those around you, and to those whose lives you touch. Time is short. You have exactly NOW to do whatever it is you're here to do, or to let the inexorable passage of hours and days and years kill your potential like fruit left to die on a vine. The universe doesn’t hate you, but it doesn’t love you, either. You’re just an atom in its infinite workings. The universe doesn’t care if you live, die, suffer, or thrive. Whatever your life here will mean is up to you. Stop worrying so much about what others think and start being who you're supposed to be. It's time to do some epic shit.
An Incomplete Education: 3,684 Things You Should Have Learned But Probably Didn't
Judy Jones - 1987
Now this instant classic has been completely updated, outfitted with a whole new arsenal of indispensable knowledge on global affairs, popular culture, economic trends, scientific principles, and modern arts. Here's your chance to brush up on all those subjects you slept through in school, reacquaint yourself with all the facts you once knew (then promptly forgot), catch up on major developments in the world today, and become the Renaissance man or woman you always knew you could be! How do you tell the Balkans from the Caucasus? What's the difference between fission and fusion? Whigs and Tories? Shiites and Sunnis? Deduction and induction? Why aren't all Shakespearean comedies necessarily thigh-slappers? What are transcendental numbers and what are they good for? What really happened in Plato's cave? Is postmodernism dead or just having a bad hair day? And for extra credit, when should you use the adjective continual and when should you use continuous? An Incomplete Education answers these and thousands of other questions with incomparable wit, style, and clarity. American Studies, Art History, Economics, Film, Literature, Music, Philosophy, Political Science, Psychology, Religion, Science, and World History: Here's the bottom line on each of these major disciplines, distilled to its essence and served up with consummate flair.
The Miracle Of Mindfulness: The Classic Guide to Meditation by the World's Most Revered Master
Thich Nhat Hanh - 2021
With his signature clarity and warmth, he shares practical exercises and anecdotes to help us arrive at greater self-understanding and peacefulness, whether we are beginners or advanced students. Beautifully written, The Miracle of Mindfulness is the essential guide to welcoming presence in your life and truly living in the moment from the father of mindfulness.'One of the most influential spiritual leaders of our times' Oprah
On Looking: Eleven Walks with Expert Eyes
Alexandra Horowitz - 2013
You are missing what is happening in the distance and right in front of you. In reading these words, you are ignoring an unthinkably large amount of information that continues to bombard all of your senses. The hum of the fluorescent lights; the ambient noise in the room; the feeling of the chair against your legs or back; your tongue touching the roof of your mouth; the tension you are holding in your shoulders or jaw; the constant hum of traffic or a distant lawnmower; the blurred view of your own shoulders and torso in your peripheral vision; a chirp of a bug or whine of a kitchen appliance.On Looking begins with inattention. It is not meant to help you focus on your reading of Tolstoy; it is not about how to multitask. Rather, it is about attending to the joys of the unattended, the perceived "ordinary." Horowitz encourages us to rediscover the extraordinary things that we are missing in our ordinary activities. Even when engaged in the simplest of activities - taking a walk around the block - we pay so little attention to most of what is right before us that we are sleepwalkers in our own lives. So turn off the phone and portable electronics and get into the real world, where you'll find there are worlds within worlds within worlds.
On the Shortness of Life: Adapted for the Contemporary Reader
James Harris - 2016
The philosopher brings up many Stoic principles on the nature of time, namely that men waste much of it in meaningless pursuits. According to the essay, nature gives man enough time to do what is really important and the individual must allot it properly. In general, time can be best used in the study of philosophy, according to Seneca. This essay has been carefully adapted into a contemporary form to allow for easy reading.
Abounding Grace: An Anthology of Wisdom
M. Scott Peck - 2000
Scott Peck, renowned for his writings on spiritual growth and author of the classic, The Road Less Traveled, has inspired countless people with his words of wisdom and insight. Now, in Abounding Grace, Dr. Peck presents us with a collection of his favorite quotations on such essential aspects of life as happiness, love, faith, and virtue. Gleaned from writers and thinkers, both famous and obscure, ancient and modern, these words--sometimes paradoxical, sometimes humorous, always eloquent and thought provoking--serve as guideposts on the road to a more spiritual existence. In his commentary introducing each of the 12 parts of his book, Dr. Peck challenges us to live a life of consciousness, goodness, and wholeness, and to look within ourselves and seriously consider how we may make the most of who we are. Through questions, examples, and anecdotes from his own experiences, Dr. Peck provides an original, fascinating, and enriching reading experience, creating, in truth, An Anthology of Wisdom. Abounding Grace is divided into 12 parts: Happiness, Courage, Compassion, Purity, Perseverance, Courtesy, Faith, Goodness, Love, Respect, Strength, and Wisdom. Dr. Peck has written a lengthy introduction and a commentary for each of the 12 parts. Below is an excerpt from his commentary on Happiness:"Happiness as an unmodified goal will likely be self-defeating. . . . Seek to be loved and you probably won't be; seek to love, on the other hand, and you probably will be. Look solely for happiness, and I doubt you'll find it. Forget about happiness, seek wisdom and goodness, and happiness will probably find you." The following are a few quotations from the same part:"Happiness depends upon ourselves." -Aristotle"The bird of paradise alights only upon the hand that does not grasp." -John Berry"When you jump for joy, beware that no one moves the ground from beneath your feet." -Stanislaw Lec"We all may have come on different ships, but we're in the same boat now." -Martin Luther King Jr."Arrange whatever pieces come your way." -Virginia Woolf "Joy is not in things; it is in us." -Richard
What If This Were Enough?: Essays
Heather Havrilesky - 2018
In her work for New York, The Baffler, The New York Times Magazine, and The Atlantic, as well as in her advice column for The Cut, "Ask Polly," she dispenses a singular, cutting wisdom--an ability to inspire, provoke, and put a name to our most insidious cultural delusions.What If This Were Enough? is a mantra and a clarion call. In its chapters--many of them original to the book, others expanded from their initial publication--Havrilesky takes on those cultural forces that shape us. From the enforced cheer of American life to the celebration of survivalism, from the allure of materialism to our misunderstandings of romance and success, Havrilesky deconstructs some of the most poisonous and misleading messages we ingest today, all the while suggesting new ways we might navigate our increasingly bewildering world.Through her incisive and witty inquiries, Havrilesky emphasizes the importance of locating the miraculous within the mundane. In these timely, provocative, and often hilarious chapters, she urges readers to embrace the flawed--to connect with what already is, who we already are, what we already have. She asks us to consider: What if this were enough? Our salvation, Havrilesky asserts, can be found right here, right now, in this imperfect moment.The smile factory --The happiest place on earth --To infinity and beyond --Playing house --Delusion at the gastropub --Adults only --Stuffed --Running on empty --Lost treasure --Land of heroic villains --The popularity contest --Tag and release --Haunted --Bravado --Survival fantasies --True romance --A scourge of gurus --My mother's house --Miracle of the mundane
A Cup of Tea
Osho - 1980
This unique book is a compilation of 365 intimate letterswritten by Osho [from 1962 to 1971] to his disciples and friends while hewas traveling in India on subjects as diverse as solitude, love, meditationand receptivity; as well as our fruitless efforts to make our lives secure,the stupidity of the human mind, and the ability to laugh at oneself.
Party of One: The Loners' Manifesto
Anneli Rufus - 2003
Rene Descartes. Emily Dickinson. Greta Garbo. Bobby Fischer. J. D. Salinger: Loners, all -- along with as many as 25 percent of the world's population. Loners keep to themselves, and like it that way. Yet in the press, in films, in folklore, and nearly everywhere one looks, loners are tagged as losers and psychopaths, perverts and pity cases, ogres and mad bombers, elitists and wicked witches. Too often, loners buy into those messages and strive to change, making themselves miserable in the process by hiding their true nature -- and hiding from it. Loners as a group deserve to be reassessed -- to claim their rightful place, rather than be perceived as damaged goods that need to be "fixed." In Party of One Anneli Rufus--a prize-winning, critically acclaimed writer with talent to burn -- has crafted a morally urgent, historically compelling tour de force -- a long-overdue argument in defense of the loner, then and now. Marshalling a polymath's easy erudition to make her case, assembling evidence from every conceivable arena of culture as well as interviews with experts and loners worldwide and her own acutely calibrated analysis, Rufus rebuts the prevailing notion that aloneness is indistinguishable from loneliness, the fallacy that all of those who are alone don't want to be, and wouldn't be, if only they knew how.
Master Your Mind: The More You Think, The Easier It Gets
D.E. Boyer - 2016
D.E. Boyer takes us on a fascinating journey from the depths of despair to an amazing quantum world where anything is possible. First, we will learn how to defend ourselves against the chaos in our minds, then we will learn how to rekindle the magic in our hearts. Along the way, the wisdom of Socrates and the myth of Narcissus will transform the way we think and feel. Boyer then shows us how the military teaches their Navy Seal recruits how to handle their thoughts and feelings when someone is trying to kill them, so we can better handle our bosses, spouses, and children when it feels like they are trying to kill us. We will also get a glimpse of death through the eyes of someone who sees people die every day, giving us a much greater appreciation for life. With extremely amusing stories from her own life that touch on her dysfunctional upbringing and traumatizing career as an intensive care nurse, Boyer teaches us how to control our anxiety, boost our fragile self-esteem, and get into a state of flow so that we can spend most of our time loving life, rather than dreading it. She also gives us crucial health and nutrition tips so that we can live longer with our newfound peace and joy, and she shows us how to be more successful at life by being a better friend, spouse, and parent. With every step we take on this path, we'll find ourselves flirting with the hidden power of the mind, a power that often lies just beyond most people's reach. Only by mastering the basics of thinking and feeling can we gain access to this power. Once the door is unlocked, we will enter another dimension, a quantum world where time is irrelevant and the magic of our mind is waiting to be found.
The Examined Life: How We Lose and Find Ourselves
Stephen Grosz - 2012
These beautifully rendered tales illuminate the fundamental pathways of life from birth to death.A woman finds herself daydreaming as she returns home from a business trip; a young man loses his wallet. We learn, too, from more extreme examples: the patient who points an unloaded gun at a police officer, the compulsive liar who convinces his wife he's dying of cancer. The stories invite compassionate understanding, suggesting answers to the questions that compel and disturb us most about love and loss, parents and children, work and change. The resulting journey will spark new ideas about who we are and why we do what we do.
The Dynamic Laws of Prayer
Catherine Ponder - 1987
DeVorss & Company; 2nd Revised edition (May 1, 1987)